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A review by thereadingchallengechallenge
Hometown Haunts: #LoveOzYA Horror Tales by Poppy Nwosu
dark
mysterious
tense
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
So, this book and I fundamentally disagree about what makes a story "Horror". To me, a horror story should be scary or menacing or spooky. A lot of these stories - aren't. For sure they're all speculative fiction but a lot of them are dystopia, or paranormal, or very vaguely magical. A lot of them are not Horror. So I got pretty frustrated, expecting scares and only getting weird magic or whatever. But there are enough gems here to make me recommend it - just maybe not specifically for Halloween.
- The Party by Wai Chim - 2/5 - An interesting idea but it was barely spooky, let alone scary or haunting.
- Seek and Destroy by Jared Thomas - 5/5 - Terrifying, with some cool Indigenous lore.
- It’s Quiet Now by Emma Preston - 1/5 - The comic’s style was pretty but it was just a monster going from place to place. Gimme some speech or narration or something to make me care about this monster.
- Heart-Shaped Stone by Vikki Wakefield - 3/5 - A wonderful creeping dread in this one but it could’ve done without the lateral ableism.
- Stop Revive Survive by Sarah Epstein - 4/5 - Welp, I’ll never get out at a roadside stop at night again.
- Don’t Look! by Lisa Fuller - 3/5 - Excellently spooky but it was missing something to really grab me.
- Nature Boy by Poppy Nwosu - 3/5 - Atmospheric and haunting but I wouldn’t call it horror.
- Slaughterhouse Boys by Emma Osborne - 3/5 - A harsh, compelling piece but I’m really wondering how the editors decided to define horror because this stuff mostly isn’t.
- Euryhaline by Margot McGovern - 5/5 - Margot McGovern’s writing always satisfies me - especially when she quotes my favourite line from my favourite horror novel.
- Hunger by Marianna Shek - 5/5 - Wonderfully menacing, with an excellent instance of ancestral haunting.
- Do I See it Now? by Michelle O'Connell - 3/5 - An interesting explanation of how it can feel to be neurodivergent on a bad day.
- Angel Eyes by Alison Evans - 5/5 - Spooky, deliciously queer, with a metaphor that makes its point without bashing you over the head with it.
- Best Years of Your Life by Felix Wilkins - DNF
- Rappaccini’s Son by Holden Sheppard - 3/5 - An interesting idea with some great queerness.